Mechanism for controlling the discharge of flowing material.



BEST AVAILABLE COP A PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905.

R. HARVEY. MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE OP FLOWING MATERIAL.

KP M I Z I F1 g 1. Z 0

I I 7W ifliy'g II A I 4 No. 807,267, BEST AVAILABLE COP PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905. R. HARVEY. MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE 0P FLOWING MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30.1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

BEST AVAlLABLE COP -;-UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE DISCHARGE 0F FLOWING MATERIAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

Application filed January 30, 1905. Serial No. 243,347.

To alt whom it may concern.-

- Be it known that I, ROBERT HARVEY, acitizen of the Commonwealth of Australia, residing at 17 London street, Newtown, Sydney, in the State of New South Wales and Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for Controlling the Discharge of Flowing Material; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will'enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The said invention relates to filter-bed attachments, which may be operated by a tilting tray actuated by fluid discharged into and flowing from the filter-beds, the said tray being square-sided or otherwise multiple-sided and provided with floats connected with its corners and under upward pressure of fluid, a passage for mercury along its rim, and with corner attachments for operating the discharge-valves of filter-beds, the said floats lifting all the corners of the tray in regular succession and the shifting of the mercury holding them in this position until the rising of another float lifts the next corner. At every such lifting there is a corresponding descent of the corner diametrically opposite the lifted one, as set forth in Letters Patent No. 77 0,287, dated September 20, 1904:, granted to Robert Harvey and Charles John Bruce.

. The object of the present invention is to satisfactorily provide for and control the outflow of liquid from said filter-beds.

To this end the said invention consists in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter more particularly set forth and claimed.

Figure 1 represents a plan of a tilting tray, with proximate mechanism and partitions of one filter-bed partly broken away, embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents, on a smaller scale, a perspective view of parts of two filter-beds broken away, showing the tilting levers and attachments arranged to be "operated by the said tilting tray. Fig. 3 represents an enlarged vertical section on the line :12 a; of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents, on a smaller scale than Fig. 2, a plan of the two filter-beds and mechanism shown in said figure and of the tray shown in Fig. 1 arranged in position for operation.

A designates a dished tray, receiving, as in the patent above mentioned, the fluid discharged from the pipe B of a septic-tank, the latter being poised on a pivot E at the intersection of mid-walls F, which divide the first filter-bed into four-compartments. Said tray is provided with peripheral tubular. parts" In this improvement fluid-controllingdevices of special construction and arrangement are substituted for the ordinary forked outlet-valves attached to the tray in the said patent.

the filter-bed and attached to the bent tube H, terminating in siphon-outlet I, a movable bell or bell-shaped valve J, covering the said 1s 1 Each of these" devices consists of a siphon Gr, embedded in outlet and arranged within an air-tubeK, ex-

tending up to the top of the filter-bed wall, said air-tube forming at its lower end a sealing-chamber L for the reception of said parts I and J, the said chamber being closed at bottom around the former to hold the sealing liquid in which said bell is immersed. An out- 7 let M extends laterally from said air-pipe on a level with the upper part of the said bell when the latter is in its lowest position. When the said tray is tilted by the action of said floats, each corner of said tray is lifted or tilted upward in succession, the diametrically opposite corner being simultaneously and correspondingly depressed, while the intermediate corners remain in the same plane, or approximately so, and the mercury, shifting from the higher to the lower parts of the peripheral tube or passage of said tray, serves to retain the latter in each position thus given it until the next float overcomes the weight of the mercury by reason of the upward pressure of the fluid in the pipe below said float.

At every such tilting of the said tray it of course tilts upward the arm P, which'is rigid with the uplifted corner, and thereby draws upward a cord or chain N, connecting the said arm to the bell or bell-shaped valveJ directly BEST AVAILABLE COP X0 7, so 7 slow said arm, so that the latter is lifted,

uncovering siphon-outlet I and permitting fluid to pass therefrom to and through the outlet M aforesaid, whence it flows into a conduit p", supplying one of the compartments H or H of the second filterbed. Each cornerpiece or coupling-piece C C C C* of said tray is provided with one of these arms P, its depending cord N, and the appropriate bell-sealing chamber and siphon. The tray is tilted automatically, as described in the said patent, by the before-mentioned lifting of the floats under liquid-pressure from below, thereby raising the bell-shaped valves in succession to open the outlets of the several filter-beds successively.

' Q, designates a pair of parallel tilting levers mounted on brackets R of filter-bed partitionwalls'F and arranged with their four rounded and upturned tips S under the four corners ofthe said tray, respectively, in order that some one of them maybe depressed by the downward movement of any corner of the saidtray.

These levers are loosely connected at one end to the ends of a transverselever T, which is fast at the center on a rock-shaft U, which is mounted 1 in bearings V and W, said lever constituting a pair Off oppositely-extending lateral arms. Near its opposite end the said rockshaft has a transverse lever X fast upon it at the middle of the latter, so that it practically consists of. two

lateral arms extending in opposite directions. Cords or chains N extend down from the ends of said arms to bells or bell-shaped valves corresponding in construction, arrangement, and function to the bells or valves J already described and located within tubes K of an outer discharge-chamber Y of said second filter-bed, each bell or valve covering the outlet end of a discharge-siphon G located in one of the compartments H or H of said second filter-bed. Consequently whenever the tray tilts so as to raise a corner a valve or hell is raised in one of said compartments simultaneously with the lifting of the valve or hell J of one of the compartments of the filter-bed directly under the tray-corner thus uplifted,

and both of these bells or valves will be held thus raised until the float acting on the traycorner next beyond the depressed one is forced up, overcoming the weight of the mercury and causing the tray to tilt into its next position,.uplifting the tray-corner next to the one previously uptilted and causing this previously-uptilted one to descend, thereby lowering the two bells or valves previously raised, as described, and thus closing the outlets of their respective compartments, while the uplifted corner of the tray will raise the bell or Valve J of the next compartment of the filterbed directly under the tray and also will raise simultaneously by means of said intervening parts Q, U, X, and N the bell or valve of the other compartment of the second or remoter filterbed. This succession of operations proceeds continuously: first, the opening of the discharge of two compartments (\one in each feeding-bed) simultaneously with the'closing of two others, then a pause while this condition and arrangement of parts continues, then the closing of the discharge of the two com: partments thus opened and the opening of the others, then a pause again, and so on. The only difference is that the four or more compartments of the first filter-bed are operated and closed in succession, whereas the two compartments of the other bed are opened and closed alternately. The floats are operated by a portion of the fluid-of the compartments: entering the perforated pipes-1Z1, 1 ,01: 1* below them. i

The tilting tray andauxiliary devicestmay be used for and with any kindof liquidor fine comminuted material flowing in astream. It supplies a convenient automatic means of directing the contents of several.- receptacles-into others or a single channel. or receptacle and at the same time supplyingsuccessively. from the tilting tray. As explained in the patent hereinbefore mentioned, the septic material or, other liquid or comminuted material is firstdirected into the tray and of courseflows out of the lowest; corner into the compartment. directly under it,- this outflow from the tray shifting from compartment to compartment of. thefilter-bed or similar structure. directly vunder the tray, so that all its' compartments are filled SHCCGS? sively. After each compartment is emptied by theopening of its outlet, as hereinbefore explained, it'fremains empty and resting until the corner of the tray above it dips down again, Also after each compartment, isthus filled by the tray it remains full. until the'said. corner of the tray lifts sufliciently to open its outlet again. These periods of pause or resting are important in divers instances to the. physical or chemical efficiency of the filtering material or other contents of the several compartment Having thus described my invention, what I claimasnew, and desire. to secure by Letters Patent, is i 1. In means. for governing the discharge of flowing" material, a sealing-chamber provided with fluid, in combination with an outlet-tube from said chamber, a siphon, having its; outlet supplying it and closing its outlet.

IIO

in said chamber, a hell or bell-shaped valve liquid-containing sealing-chamber concentric with said outlet, a hell .or bell-shaped: valve normally fitting over said outlet and immersed in said liquid and means for automatically lifting the said bell to uncover said outlet substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with a tilting trayprovided with arms projecting from itscorners and means for automatically tilting said corners of said. tray in regular succession, a series of bells or bell-shaped valves suspended from said arms, a series of siphons provided with vertical outlets which extend up into said bells, a series of sealing-chambers which contain liquid for sealing said bells in the normal position of the latter and a series of compartments, successively supplied with liquid or other flowing material by the tilting of the said tray, each of which compartments contains one of the said siphons and is discharged thereby, substantially as set forth.

4;. In combination with a tilting tray, provided with means for autoriiatically tilting the corners thereof in regular succession, tilting levers arranged to be operated by the depression of the said corners successively, a rockshaft actuated by said tilting levers, and means operated by the rocking of said shaft for permitting the discharge of flowing material substantially as set forth.-

5. In combination with a tilting tray, provided with arms projecting from its corners and means for automatically shifting the center of gravity from corner to corner of said tray in regular succession, a series of bells or bell-shaped valves suspended from said arms, sealing-chambers for said bells or bellshaped valves, siphons having outlets extending up into said chambers within said bells or bell-shaped valves, a filter-bed composed of BEST AVAILABLE COP compartments each of which contains one of said siphons, a second filter-bed also divided into compartments, means governing the discharge of the latter, a rock-shaft provided with arms and connections for operating said compartment-discharging devices and provided also with arms for receiving actuating impulses, and a pair of levers having upturned ends arranged under the corners of said tray inproximity thereto and adapted to act on the last-named arms for rocking the said shaft, in order that the same tilting tray may operate, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination with a tilting tray for receiving and discharging fluid, a series of floats under the corners thereof arranged to be lifted by fluid, a series of compartments arranged to successively receive the fluid from the corners of the said tray as each of these suc.

cessively becomes the lowest, a series of siphon-tubes and sealed bell-shaped valves fordischarging the said compartments and devices connecting the several corners of the tray with the valves under them in order that the uptilting of each corner mayopen the valve under it and thereby empty the compartment having its outlet governed by the said valve, the fluid thus escaping being directed to the floats succesively for maintaining the tilting of the corners of the tray in regular order substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my sig- V nature in the presence of two witnesses.

. ROBERT HARVEY. Witnesses:

JOHN J. STONE, CLARENCE W. BULTITUDE. 

